MAD HATTER GARDEN DESIGNS

Everything went perfectly. Carol is professional, prompt and works with your schedule and needs.

I couldn't say enough good things about them. It was a large project. They know about all plants, including native plants, which I have a lot of. They are responsible, creative, and do what they say they are going to do and when they say they are going to do it. Overall, it was an excellent experience!

Carol only came over once or twice and didn't provide any design advice as promised. The reason we chose Mad Hatter was because Carol billed herself as a master gardener who would provide design advice not just a yard service and because they wouldn't make us sign an annual contract, which is a nice perk. Her crew came over twice per month and generally did a good job, however, for the price ($180 + dump fees) they did not maintain the lawns (mow, fertilize, etc.) nor work on the irrigation system (we had a broken sprinkler head at one time). They are upfront about this, but the price is steep if you do not receive advice/ideas from Carol nor lawn/sprinkler work. We asked them to replace a stake on a maple tree and after several visits (one where they said they forgot the new stake) they finally decided to just remove the stake and asked us to let the gate (which was being impeded by the drooping tree) open in both directions. They removed a dead arborvitae from a row of arborvitae without asking us and without ever offering to help provide a replacement. They also dumped all leaves, etc. into our yard bins without asking us and when we discovered this they began charging us a dump fee to haul the leaves away. Again, the crew generally did a good job with what they did (cleanup, edging) but the company would not go out of their way to do anything that was not specifically asked of them (they didn't trim back trees, bushes or small plants, give us options on the replacement tree, etc.) nor did they provide any design advice. After evaluating our options we decided to cancel the service and pay $150/month to another company who provides the same services as Mad Hatter but will also mow and fertilize the lawn.

Carol always gives me an estimate of costs before she does anything, and makes a point to work within my budget. She will often go out of her way to spruce up the garden or potted plants if I'm entertaining. She has also been an excellent resource for other yard services she doesn't do, like recommending a tree expert, or someone to mow the lawn.

I chose Carol after watching her crew work one day while I was walking my dogs. I had never seen such attention to detail - standing inside Japanese Maples, using little clippers, slowly, carefully trimming and pruning. I asked Carol for her card and she came for a consultation, and went over every part of the yard. She gave me an idea of what needed to be done and the cost. She asked me about my budget then easily adjusted, priortizing the most important things. The crew showed up as scheduled, worked meticulously for quite some time, but didn't quite finish. They were being respectful of my budget. Carol called and told me the amount of time needed to really finish what we had agreed on and the cost. They came back and finished up. The shrubs and small trees looked great! I would have Carol and her group back in an instant.